Month: April 2016

We spend 3 nights in Beaufort, SC. This was a “planned” stop. A fellow blogger was staying there and I wanted to meet him, his wife, and Honey, their dog.

I’ve been following Mike’s blog Bimini Dream shortly after he and Pam moved aboard their Pacific Seacraft 34 late last summer. They were up in the Chesapeake and had plans to go south. While Steve and I were complaining about how awful the weather was, Mike and Pam were dealing with one boat catastrophe after the other. I can’t tell you how many times I’d start reading one of Mike’s posts and just shake my head in disbelief. It took them about 6 months to get from Cambridge, MD to Beaufort, SC.

In one of his blogs, Mike mentioned (as a good husband should) Pam’s blog about Honey, Something Wagging This Way Comes. Honey became my virtual dog and I enjoyed reading about her adventures.

We have a nice visit getting to know one another “in person”. We are impressed by their commitment to the cruising lifestyle

Enjoying dinner with new friends

Steve and I aren’t so committed. Living on FNR is hard. Making the bed is hard. Going to the bathroom in the middle of the night is hard. Flushing the head is hard. Explaining how to flush the head is even harder. Getting into tight places to fix things when you are 6’2” is hard. Having to remember where you put things so you don’t have to tear the whole boat apart looking for them is hard. Watching the stock market put a dent in the cruising kitty is hard. But to be honest, it’s probably not harder than we thought it would be. It’s just harder than we want to live.

So, a year in, FNR goes on eBay and sells to someone who has never seen her and who doesn’t know how to sail.

Steve patiently answers all the guy’s questions and believe me, he has plenty. They talk so often that I accuse Steve of having an eBay wife. No, he says. This guy has our money in his pocket and I’m trying to get him to turn it loose. The negotiations start in Stuart and finally end in Myrtle Beach leaving us officially homeless. Luckily, our children feel sorry for us and we have 2-week stays scheduled at each of their 3 houses. That should give us enough time to find permanent housing in the Raleigh area.

Folks ask Steve if he’s sad to see FNR go. No, he emphatically answers and then goes on to explain that cruising has been a dream of his for 30 years. He needed to live this dream. He’s glad he did it because he got it out of his system. And, just in case you’re wondering, he will tell you that it’s him and not me who cut this adventure short .

Once we get settled, we plan to find part-time jobs and replenish what we now call the adventure kitty. Life’s always an adventure with Steve Fisher but I have an adventure or two in me. I know a Morgan 38 that needs some loving and after that Zen on a Boat may get rebranded. Stay tuned. Zen in an RV is just an RV away.